Genomic characterization of a novel circovirus from a stranded Longman’s beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus)

Landrau‐Giovannetti, Nelmarie; Subramaniam, Kuttichantran; Brown, Melissa Ann; Ng, Terry Fei Fan; Rotstein, David S.; West, Kristi L.; Frasca, Salvatore; Waltzek, Thomas B.

doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2019.197826

Cited by 11 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Diverse viruses have been reported to infect cetaceans, including adenoviruses [8], astroviruses [9], circoviruses [10], coronaviruses [11], enteroviruses [12], herpesviruses [13], influenza viruses [14], morbilliviruses [15,16], papillomaviruses [17], pegiviruses [18], pestiviruses [19], poxviruses [20], and rhabdoviruses [21]. However, it remains largely obscure how these viruses originated in cetaceans, and how these viruses evolved during the shift from land to water.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular fossils illuminate the evolution of retroviruses following a macroevolutionary transition from land to water

et al. 2021

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The ancestor of cetaceans underwent a macroevolutionary transition from land to water early in the Eocene Period >50 million years ago. However, little is known about how diverse retroviruses evolved during this shift from terrestrial to aquatic environments. Did retroviruses transition into water accompanying their hosts? Did retroviruses infect cetaceans through cross-species transmission after cetaceans invaded the aquatic environments? Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) provide important molecular fossils for tracing the evolution of retroviruses during this macroevolutionary transition. Here, we use a phylogenomic approach to study the origin and evolution of ERVs in cetaceans. We identify a total of 8,724 ERVs within the genomes of 25 cetaceans, and phylogenetic analyses suggest these ERVs cluster into 315 independent lineages, each of which represents one or more independent endogenization events. We find that cetacean ERVs originated through two possible routes. 298 ERV lineages may derive from retrovirus endogenization that occurred before or during the transition from land to water of cetaceans, and most of these cetacean ERVs were reaching evolutionary dead-ends. 17 ERV lineages are likely to arise from independent retrovirus endogenization events that occurred after the split of mysticetes and odontocetes, indicating that diverse retroviruses infected cetaceans through cross-species transmission from non-cetacean mammals after the transition to aquatic life of cetaceans. Both integration time and synteny analyses support the recent or ongoing activity of multiple retroviral lineages in cetaceans, some of which proliferated into hundreds of copies within the host genomes. Although ERVs only recorded a proportion of past retroviral infections, our findings illuminate the complex evolution of retroviruses during one of the most marked macroevolutionary transitions in vertebrate history.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular fossils illuminate the evolution of retroviruses following a macroevolutionary transition from land to water

et al. 2021

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“…Genetic analyses of museum specimens identified four new species of beaked whales in the last 20 years, and three species of beaked whales -Mesoplodon bowdoini, M. traversii and M. hotaulaare known only from morphological and genetic analyses of stranded specimens (Dalebout et al 2002, Dalebout et al 2014, Morin et al 2017, Yamada et al 2019. Phylogenies have been generated using specimens of opportunity, resolving questions of relatedness among certain species (Dalebout et al 2008, Einfeldt et al 2019b; comparative anatomy of beach-cast carcasses has helped to identify species-specific morphological differences (Mead 2007, Lambert et al 2011, March et al 2016; and necropsies have shed light on beaked whale parasites and diseases, sexual maturity and gestation times (Besharse 1971, Auriolesgamboa 1992, Macleod & Herman 2004, Landrau-Giovannetti et al 2020.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specimens of opportunity provide vital information for research and conservation regarding elusive whale species

2021

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Summary Elusive species are challenging to study and conserve because basic elements of their biology may be unknown. Specimens of opportunity provide a means of collecting information on these species and may be critical for elusive species’ conservation. We used snowball sampling to identify Sowerby’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens) specimens in museums and research institutions. Snowball sampling proved highly effective: we located 180 specimens from 24 institutions in North America and Europe, 62 of which were not listed in online collections databases, resulting in the largest collated dataset for this species. Analysis of these data resulted in several new findings for this species, including significant morphological variation between specimens from different collection regions, suggesting the presence of previously unidentified population structuring in this species. These data provide critical information regarding this species and demonstrate the effectiveness of specimens of opportunity for elusive species research and conservation. We recommend other researchers consider snowball sampling when designing research projects utilizing specimens of opportunity. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of snowball sampling and specimens of opportunity to elusive species research and conservation, and the methods of our study can be readily adapted for other species.

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“…The retrospective study indicated 24% prevalence of BWMV in at least one tissue by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in fresh carcasses although in many cases accompanying pathology was not observed 11 . Full genome sequencing of the BWMV identified from Hawaii confirms that BWMV represents a separate strain of CeMV among the CeMV-1 lineage 12 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…A stranded neonate sperm whale that stranded on Oahu in 2011 was co-infected with Brucella and morbillivirus 26 . A Longman’s beaked whale stranded in Maui in 2010 diagnosed with CeMV was tri-infected with an alphaherpesvirus and a novel circovirus 6 , 27 . Brucella , Toxoplasma gondii and herpesvirus were not detected during an intial diagnostic screen of this individual.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel cetacean morbillivirus in a rare Fraser’s dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei) stranding from Maui, Hawai‘i

West

Silva‐Krott

Landrau‐Giovannetti

et al. 2021

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Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) is a global threat to cetaceans. We report a novel morbillivirus from a Fraser’s dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei) that stranded in Maui, Hawaii in 2018 that is dissimilar to the beaked whale morbillivirus previously identified from Hawaii and to other CeMV strains. Histopathological findings included intranuclear inclusions in bile duct epithelium, lymphoid depletion, rare syncytial cells and non-suppurative meningitis. Cerebellum and lung tissue homogenates were inoculated onto Vero.DogSLAMtag cells for virus isolation and cytopathic effects were observed, resulting in the formation of multinucleated giant cells (i.e., syncytia). Transmission electron microscopy of infected cell cultures also revealed syncytial cells with intracytoplasmic and intranuclear inclusions of viral nucleocapsids, consistent with the ultrastructure of a morbillivirus. Samples of the cerebellum, lung, liver, spleen and lymph nodes were positive for morbillivirus using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The resulting 559 bp L gene sequence had the highest nucleotide identity (77.3%) to porpoise morbillivirus from Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. The resulting 248 bp P gene had the highest nucleotide identity to porpoise morbillivirus in Northern Ireland and the Netherlands and to a stranded Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) in Brazil (66.9%). As Fraser’s dolphins are a pelagic species that infrequently strand, a novel strain of CeMV may be circulating in the central Pacific that could have additional population impacts through transmission to other small island-associated cetacean species.

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Genomic characterization of a novel circovirus from a stranded Longman’s beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus)

Cited by 11 publications

References 35 publications

Molecular fossils illuminate the evolution of retroviruses following a macroevolutionary transition from land to water

Molecular fossils illuminate the evolution of retroviruses following a macroevolutionary transition from land to water

Specimens of opportunity provide vital information for research and conservation regarding elusive whale species

Novel cetacean morbillivirus in a rare Fraser’s dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei) stranding from Maui, Hawai‘i

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